War Memorial Pool

Directions to War Memorial PoolFrom the north or east, take Interstate 81 south to exit 118B, following US 460 west to Blacksburg.
From the south, take Interstate 81 north to exit 118B, following US 460 west to Blacksburg.
From West Virginia, take Interstate 77 south (West Virginia Turnpike) to exit 9. Exit and turn left onto 460 east. Follow 460 east to Blacksburg.
Once in Blacksburg, use the 460 bypass around the downtown
area. Follow 460 to the
signal at Southgate Drive (Va. 314). Turn right onto campus.
Take the first left onto Duck Pond Drive, take the first right onto
Washington Street, then take the first left onto West Campus Drive. Follow West Campus Drive until you get to The Drill Field (second right). War Memorial Gym will be on your right at the center of the drill field.

War Memorial Pool, located just off the campus Drill Field at War Memorial Gym, is currently Virginia Tech's swimming and diving facility. The complex includes a 25-yard pool, with eight lanes and a diving well. The movable bulkhead, which separates the pool from the diving well, can be adjusted to lengthen the pool to 25 meters. The diving well is made up of two 1-meter boards, a 3-meter board and a 5-meter platform.

Complete with underwater windows and a sound system, the facility is also equipped with the Colorado Electronic Timing System and scoreboard. Two years ago, a 12-line read-out scoreboard was installed for swimming, as well as a three-line scoreboard for diving.

The pool has served as the site for two Virginia State Championship meets and one Metro Conference Championship.

War Memorial Gym itself houses numerous other facilities, including saunas, weight rooms, racquetball courts and six basketball courts. The Hokies also have the use of other equipment such as power-racks for strength swimming, and VASA trainers, VASA climbers and bicycles for dry-land training.

(H2OKIES' HOME IN PROGRESS)
The program, though, will be moving in the fall of 2009, as the H2Okies gear up for a new home in the $14.5 million Christiansburg Aquatic Center in nearby Christiansburg, Va.

The 62,000 square-foot facility is a 50-meter competition pool designed to promote and support competitive swimming at all age levels within the region. From a Tech perspective, it features a 50-meter Olympic-sized competition pool (1,012,000 gallons); 5-, 7- and 10-meter diving platforms; 1- and 3-meter springboards; locker rooms for both Tech teams; and a seating capacity of 1,100, which allows the building to serve as the locations for competitive swimming and diving events.

The facility also includes components that the average person would not think of, things like a sparger system at the bottom of the pool that releases air bubbles to soften the landing at the water's surface for divers, and a UV disinfection system, which will clean the water and eliminate the smell of chlorine.

Thanks to a unique sharing agreement between Christiansburg and Virginia Tech, the arena provides a separate family/leisure pool with a two-story water slide and a separate therapy pool to be used for physical therapy. Town residents get to use the big pool during designated times. According to the partnership between Tech and the town, the Tech teams get to practice between 5-9 a.m. and 3-7 p.m. Also, Tech gets 10 weekends a year to hold meets - dual meets, invitationals, the ACC championships, etc.